Tea might be, well, your cup of tea

Tuesday

Jul 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 24, 2007 at 10:00 PM

By Edith C. Webster

Tea is more than a perennial summertime favorite.

Whether iced, hot or mixed into a cocktail, tea is more popular than ever.

It has been around for thousands of years and is the world’s most widely consumed beverage, but thanks to new flavors, reports of its health benefits and increasing availability, Americans drank 50 billion servings of tea in 2006, according to the New York City-based Tea Association of the USA.

At Giovanni’s restaurant in Rockford, diners are drinking it mixed with vodka or in the Green Tea Cooler, a cocktail made with Zen Green Tea, citrus vodka, lime juice and lemon-lime soda. Its nonalcoholic teas include bottled iced teas and a variety of brightly-packaged Tazo herbal teas, which servers present in a wooden tray.

"I don’t know if it’s all the different flavors, but people are ordering tea more and more," said Mandi Feery, bar manager at Giovanni’s. "And, with the health craze, people want tea over coffee."

Sales of tea have increased 15 years in row, reaching $6.5 billion in 2006, and the trend is expected to continue, the Tea Association reports.

"There are definitely more tea aficionados around," said Sandi Keller, owner/operator of Java Mania Coffee Roastery of Loves Park, which distributes a high-end, whole leaf tea to businesses. "You have the gourmet coffee industry, and now, the tea drinkers are getting on board."

Jeff Malkasian, vice-president of sales for Bodum, which specializes in tea-making products, said flavor options make tea more exciting than "the traditional black tea bag your mother grew up with."

More stores, and now tea rooms, are offering a larger variety of teas, and the ready-to-drink options are growing, but the current popularity also is connected to the past, Malkasian said.

"There is still tradition and cultured steeped in the tea brewing and drinking process," he said. "Tea allows us to sit and enjoy the beverage with friends around a table, making it both relaxing and social. Consumers today, especially the younger consumers, are enjoying the ‘ceremony’ around brewing and presentation."